one little piggy

Our boys are doing really great so far! They're taking their feeds well and are requiring only minimal monitoring. Hopefully they take to the bottle quickly! We should get more photos once we come home from the hospital.

the Babies are Here!

At 2am on Thursday someone decided to kick their water bag open. I was fast asleep and woke up to a huge gush of water- just like in the movies. I experienced a crazy adrenaline rush the likes of which I still don't think I've recovered from! We called my OB and two hours later the babies were out. I'm still trying to get my head around it. On the one hand I really wanted, and thought, we'd go longer. On the other, it was a miracle I made it so far. The babies (we're still working out the names) weighed in at 5lbs7oz and 5lbs3oz, which is very large for nearly-34weeker twins and had my tumm pulled to a 45cm+ fundal length. I started at >120lbs and wound up at 188lbs in just 7 1/2 months. Plus, they were in crazy positions, transverse but stacked horizontally on top of each other so I was extra stretched. (My doctor said she's never seen more unusual positions for twins!) No wonder I was in such agony every time I tried switching sides in bed! It was uncomfortable for all of us. So despite the fact that my labor predictor (fetal fibernectin test) came out negative only a week beforehand, the ship sprung a leak. All the bedrest, drugs or wheelchairs (which I was then using) in the world couldn't have kept these guys in there a minute longer.

It feels sort of strange to have them out now! For so long we've been focused on making our pregnancy successful, and even though I'm a bit bummed we didn't make our 36 week goal, we came really close. So far the babies are doing great. One has needed a little smidge of oxygen flow, but that's it. It's hard to say how long they'll be in the NICU- probably 2-3 weeks. They need to develop their sucking reflex, which typically kicks in a week or two from now. While I wish they didn't have to be in the NICU, I know it's going to give me a badly-needed opportunity to rest and recover. I leave the hospital in a day or two. If all works out well, I'm going to be very, very busy in a couple weeks from now when Caleb and Julian get home from their visit from Nana. Love you all! We couldn't have made it this far without you! We'll get photos up soon!

Krafts

When I was a young 24 year old breadwinning in the tough streets of NYC while Ian gutted through law school, I stumbled upon a magazine that had no relation to anything I was doing at the time but nevertheless caught my attention. I bought a couple issues, and when so many other items got chucked in the trash through all our moves, these have somehow survived. The mag was Martha Stewart Baby. Sadly defunct after just a few quarterly issues, it was filled with gemmy crafts, recipes and articles devoted to babies. Over the years I'd get dreamy and collect supplies to reproduce one of their gorgeous creations, and over the years I gathered a bunch of random items that collected dust in my closet. Then along came bedrest. I finally had time to make the quiet book, crochet the pom-pom hat, and sew the terry cloth washcloth ducks made for scrubbing in baby's neck areas. (the burp cloths were inspired by a gift from my friend Jaymie) I don't know how I would have gotten through bedrest staying this sane if I hadn't held onto these magazines. It's like my future self inspired my past self to buy them, knowing there would be a time when they would be invaqluable. Sadly I'm too sick to continue with the projects- I still have a baby texture book and quilt in the works. I'll get to them someday... they've been fun!

It's Official. I'm an Invalid!

Caution: This post is a rant. If you're looking for something cheery, read elsewhere.
I'm cursed with big babies! Yes, I know this is a good thing normally, but my poor uterus is so stretched out it's like I can hear it screaming in agony. Like times my ballet teachers used to stretch my leg back and it hurt a ton and I would want it to stop really badly! My fundal length is 43cm, just for some perspective a full-size/full-term fundal length is 40cm and many women don't even hit that. It wouldn't be so bad if I was at the end, but I'm only at 33 weeks on Sunday. My doctors are aiming for 36-37 weeks for a delivery, but they want me to make it until 34 weeks at the very least. Sometimes I feel like this has got to be some crazy joke- I can't roll over to different sides in bed without massive pain, and the pressure is so bad it's hard to walk for more than a few paces. As a result I recently got a sweet hookup from my physical therapist- a walker. It helps a ton. Looks like a wheelchair is the future as well. Maybe a stretcher too...